A ROAD rage driver who mowed down and killed an elderly couple by overtaking at a pedestrian crossing has been jailed.

Caroline Hoy, 35, wept as a sheriff told her she had left the family of devoted Bob and Rose Simpson "devastated and traumatised" by the tragedy in a seaside town.

Hoy had been angered by the slowness of the car in front and sped past it in a built-up area, gesturing and glaring at the other driver.

But she failed to spot Mr and Mrs Simpson, aged 87 and 84 respectively, who were crossing the road when she knocked them down in Largs, Ayrshire.

Mr Simpson was killed outright while his wife was airlifted to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital. where she later died.

Hoy, of Saltcoats, was jailed for 16 months and banned from the road for five years after admitting careless driving Nin August 2013.

She overtook the other car within the controlled area of a pedestrian crossing on the A78 Greenock Road while looking and gesturing at the driver, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard.

CCTV images showed Hoy's red Toyota speeding through Largs at 43mph in a 30mph zone in the moments leading up to the accident.

Sheriff McDonald added: "Mr and Mrs Simpson were simply crossing the road in Largs and you failed to observe them crossing.

"It is important to realise the impact on the Simpson family. They were parents and grandparents, with many friends, and they are all devastated and traumatised by this tragic accident."